Fate?
by IcedOverFire
Summary: And here Risa thought she was hard to please.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello, friends, flamers and aliens alike! Welcome to my freaky, twisted and slightly discombobulated world! _

_:) Sorry, sugar makes me go crazy a lot of times. _

_So...Fate?...I feel as if I should make some sort of introduction for it (you know, get in a rant in here somewhere) but people might start dying from boredom if I do so I'll just let Risa and Satoshi do the talking, alright? Bwahaha! I can hear the sighs of relief. Anyway, I'm actually very proud of this fic--I think it can really go places. :D I hope y'all like it. _

_--_

Chapter One: Meet Mr. Icebox

--

Risa Harada, matchmaker extraordinaire, sighed miserably.

She stared resignedly at the print-out she had been losing all her sleep over for what could possibly be the thousandth time in the last two days.

Pulling at her shoulder-length hair, she turned on her laptop, vaguely wondering why she was having such a dilemma when she'd been in the business for the past year and a half without a hitch.

"Probably because the guy's a walking icebox," she mumbled to herself, browsing the almost endless list of debutantes and heiresses in her database.

A multi-millionaire—rumored to actually have billions in assets—known to be impassive and detached, at best. Surely there were women in the country who wouldn't mind his shortcomings. Right?

_Satoshi Hiwatari_.

God, just the thought of him made her head throb.

A face caught her eye. Jet black hair, emerald eyes and an endearing smile. Risa clicked on her picture, heart racing and adrenaline racing through her veins. She was always like this when matchmaking.

"Angeline Rittman. 25. Chef at Romeo. Daughter of Francine, interior designer, and Nathan, businessman." Risa grinned happily. "Not bad." She scrolled down the page until she reached Angeline's self-evaluation.

_I don't think of myself as overbearing or hard to please but I admit that I do get quite jealous easily. I'm a perfectionist and I don't appreciate it when people judge me by saying that I'm too absorbed in my work. I know how to have fun too, when I have the time. I love animals, cats especially, and I cannot understand why some rather not take care of a pet—unless they're allergic. _

Here Risa frowned a little. "Well, I'm sorry I just don't _want_ to have a pet." She wasn't allergic and she had both the time and passion for adopting a pet but she just didn't feel like it. She didn't see a crime in it.

_I don't want to enter a relationship with a man who puts too much time in at work since that would mean we'd have only a few hours a week to be together—if that. I want a family man who can understand that my job means a great deal to me and won't mind if I'm gone for days on end while I'm at seminars or contests across the country. But that doesn't mean that he should quit his job and stay at home either. I'm not much of a homebody myself and I don't need a lazy man in my life._

Risa rolled her eyes and closed the page. "_Of course_ she'd want a 'family man'."

"That means Mr. Icebox here didn't even stand a chance."

There were thousands of women who were waiting for a phone call from her. _Someone_ should match this man's tastes. If she couldn't do this, her credibility would be a thing of the past.

Her line of work was simple. Risa specialized in hunting down women for first-class desperadoes.

Women from the age of 20 'til 40 came to her office and filled out forms about the usual trivialities—hobbies, job, interests in men, past relationships, what they were _really_ after. They could even give names if they wanted.

The men would call or come to her in person to talk about what _they_ were looking for. They would answer their own sheet of questions and it would be up to her to find someone that she thought would complement them.

Both parties paid for the initial meetings—with Risa as well as their possible partners—then a bonus if they ended up together. If it didn't work out, Risa would continue searching. She hadn't had any problem since she started. She had brought together a total of twenty-eight couples, quite a feat when she was the only one on her staff.

She chose not to enter the two-way stream for personal reasons. The women she worked with understood, somewhat.

"Here we go. Heiress and socialite. Jeanette Anderson. 22. Graduated in Journalism." Risa raised her eyebrows but said nothing. When she checked the 22 year-old's comments she couldn't suppress her frown.

_I'm a very simple person. I don't really enjoy partying or club-hopping and I think people who believe all that tabloid trash are stupid. I'm looking for a simple man. I don't want him rich or poor, just an average Joe. I know how hard it is to live with cameras outside the front door and I've had my fill for one lifetime. I don't need a guy who's going to keep on being in the limelight. Oh, and I want him to be okay with the concept of the woman paying for most of the expenses. I mean, it's not like I can't afford it. _

"It's like the universe just doesn't like this guy."

Risa took a moment before she began her next search. "Okay, so a busy career woman doesn't want to have an equally active partner and an heiress wants to be with a normal guy. So that would mean a plain face in the crowd-type would want someone famous!"

She set her mouth in a firm line. "Let's hope these women are as brutally honest as Angeline and Jeanette," she said with a tinge of hopelessness in her voice.

After an hour of going through at least thirty-five middle-class women, Risa was about to give up, teary-eyed from the strain and body sore from staying in one position too long. "Okay, last one. If she doesn't make it, I'll call him up and say that I wasn't able to find anyone for him today." She didn't have anyone else to cater but it was almost three in the afternoon. She had to meet up with her sister in a few minutes.

Risa winced involuntarily. She forgot that she was doing this without Mr. Hiwatari's consent.

A Dark Mousy—she was pretty sure she'd heard of him somewhere—called the day before yesterday and sent her a fax on the millionaire icebox. He had asked her to find the perfect match for him and that he'd triple her usual fee if she was able to accomplish the task. She was a bit insulted actually that the man implied she was in this only for the money but accepted anyway.

"I bet Mr. Mousy's going to be on the receiving end of all that frost if Mr. Hiwatari finds out," she mused out loud, drawing circles on her desk with her pinky finger.

For her last pick she got Ms. Andrea Carr. A pretty brunette who owned her own chain of cafés around the city. 27. From a working-class family. Only child. "At least that gives the two of them something in common."

_I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to go out with someone well-off. It's not that I'm greedy or anything but I've seen what poverty can do to people. And I want a good future. I don't think I'd really mind being in the public's eye—I might even benefit from it on some occasions. But the man should be warm and open with me if I'll have to live the rest of my adult life with him, his probably snobby family _and_ the paparazzi. I don't believe that money is everything and if the man isn't willing to compromise or treat me right then I'd rather stand on my own two feet and wait for the right one._

Risa almost screamed.

_So close._

_--_

_If you aren't too pleased with this chapter, please tell me so. I already have a few ideas if you guys think this needs a little (or a lot) of tweaking. I think I over-exaggerated a lot here so I made sure to tone it down a bit when I re-edited it. Oh yes, my friends, flamers and aliens--RE-edited it. Sometimes life is just so unfair...:) But I'm sure a few reviews or shout-outs from you can change my pessimism. :D_


	2. Chapter 2

_Fina-freaking-lly. _

_I updated, I updated, whoo!_

_You guys cannot believe how long I've been waiting to get this thing going again. Who knew all I needed was a little too much work and an unbelieveably close deadline to get this posted up here? :) I'm sorry for the (ahem) long wait--but that's writer's block for you. I hope everyone will still be interested in the story, I really tried to make this chapter interesting. My brain's finally finished hibernating so I'm sure I'll get more stuff up here more frequently. :D _

_-- _

Chapter Two: Now Meet The Bosses

--

"'Ku, I seriously do not know what to do about this guy!" Risa announced for the entire world to hear as she plopped herself down into the seat in front of her twin. She ran a frenzied hand through her hair. She had had to cancel their late-lunch-slash-early-dinner yesterday because she had been feeling so guilty about leaving her work unfinished—she always placed her heart into her matchmakings and Mr. Satoshi Hiwatari, no matter how hard he may seem, was not going to be the exception to her impeccable track record.

But apparently, he was very quickly becoming just that. She had had a hard time with clients before but never had it taken her two entire days to find at least _one_ possible candidate. There was only so much Risa could do for this man. "It'd like the universe just doesn't like him or something! If it's not one thing, it's another. What is wrong with the world?" she finished dramatically, though this time not for show. She just needed to release some of her bottled-up anxiety.

"What am I going to tell him when he calls up later? 'Sorry, sir, but I wasn't able to find you a match. Here's your money back'?! Riku, this cannot be happening to me!" Risa laid her head on the table and Riku had to laugh. She hadn't seen Risa so flustered in such a long time—she was actually afraid that Risa Business Mode was never going to give Riku back her sister.

"Who's the lucky guy? You haven't had this hard a time since you first started. I should congratulate him on a job well done. Even better, I should take him out to dinner to celebrate, if only to make you even antsier." Riku grinned wider when her sister lifted her head to glare at her twin sister.

"Great help you are. Here I am, falling apart at the seams and you're just laughing at me like this is some really hilarious sitcom. Hello, Earth to Riku? Do you know how much is on the line, here? The guy said he'd pay triple—that's times _three_, 'Ku—plus a bonus if things ended up well. Which, looking at the way things are going, is me unsuccessfully trying to get run over by a bus."

Riku finally sobered and mustered a sympathetic smile for the mess that had become of her sister. "I'm sure there's someone you just overlooked, Ris. I mean, what, you have thousands of women just waiting on your computer. I doubt _none_ of them would be a match for this guy you're so worked up about."

"I wish," Risa mumbled under her breath dejectedly. "This guy's the hardest client I've ever had to work for. I've gone through hundreds, 'Ku, _hundreds_ of possible candidates. But when I skim down to their self-evaluations and preferences, none of them seem to click with the guy. Like, at all. Seriously, I am not kidding. I'm already dreading the phone call—a phone call, Riku!"

The elder of the two finally realized just how bad this whole thing had gotten. Her sister was repeating phrases and that could only mean trouble. Dear Lord…

"I cannot risk my name and reputation being ruined because I couldn't find this one guy a single match. If only he wasn't such a walking icebox," Risa moaned for what seemed to be the millionth time. She was getting sick of feeling so helpless. If she didn't find some sort of idea to postpone the apocalyptic phone call from her client later, she wouldn't be able to show her face in public for a long while. Okay, so that was an exaggeration but the thought of failure didn't sit well with her in the least bit.

Riku's eyebrows rose and she had to suppress the laugh that was just bubbling underneath her serious façade. "Tell me who this guy is already. Maybe I can give you some ideas," Riku tried to offer as sweetly as she could, hoping to send good sisterly vibes to her twin. In reality, she just wanted to know who the guy who had brought her unbelievably resilient sister down a peg, a feat that she knew from experience wasn't something just a plain nobody could achieve.

Risa placed her head in her hand, slowly perusing the menu that she hadn't noticed had been in front of her the whole time. She sighed. "The guy I'm looking a match for is named Satoshi Hiwatari but the guy who hired me is Dark Mousy, a name that I feel I should know but has totally escaped me for only God-knows-why."

She didn't give the shocked look that had completely taken over Riku's face a notice. "Anyway, that's not the point. The real point in this whole mess is that the Mousy guy has this picture of me as some sort of miracle worker in his head. Obviously, it never occurred to him that maybe Mr. Hiwatari doesn't have a girlfriend or whatever because no woman can handle him." Risa sighed again. She needed something with chocolate in it and quick, before she lost her mind.

Finally, the elder Harada got her voice back. "You mean Satoshi Hiwatari, as in the guy who practically owns half of the companies in the city?" she had to ask incredulously. She could not see the business tycoon allowing someone to set him up like this in a million years. Then again…

Risa rolled her eyes. Of course _that_ would be what her sister would pay the most attention to. "He doesn't own them, 'Ku, he just has a lot of their stocks. He's not even a partner for most of them."

This time it was Riku who rolled her eyes. "Same difference, sis. Plus, whenever he invests in anything, everybody's over it in seconds. _And_," she drew out the word for emphasis, and, admittedly, to annoy her sister a little, "he's the new CEO of _Echelon_. I'm sure there are a lot of interested women out there."

"Including you, it seems." Risa's eyebrow quirked at her sister's gushing. "You seem to know an awful lot about the guy. Are you sure _you_ don't want a shot at him? I'm sure it could be arranged. And it would solve all my problems, too."

Riku and Satoshi Hiwatari? Risa's nose wrinkled—both from amusement and skepticism. It could work. It'd be a _really_ long shot but it wasn't impossible…

"Hello? Risa! Are you insane? I do not want to date Satoshi Hiwatari! I said there are a lot of interested women out there, I didn't say I wanted him for myself." Sometimes having such a hardheaded twin sister had its downsides. Risa sighed again.

"Then where are your brilliant ideas, then?" Risa asked half-heartedly when they were finally able to order, much to the waiter's relief. He knew better than to stay near hormonal women, the good man.

"Well, honestly, nowhere. I've got to say I'm proud you haven't cracked under all this pressure though. If you get out of this alive, we should go and buy you a new condo." Risa groaned. This wasn't helping.

"And back to what you said earlier, I'm surprised you don't know Dark Mousy. He's always on the news, what with being one of the youngest presidents of an architecture firm and whatever," here, Riku paused, remembering that her sister wasn't the biggest fan of current events before plowing on, "Come to think of it, you should be ashamed you don't know Satoshi Hiwatari either. You should really start opening the news section of the paper someday soon, Ris."

Risa scowled, her sister having hit a sore spot. "Oh, shut it, Riku, I've got enough problems already. And, hey, I researched Mr. Hiwatari's background when Mr. Mousy so graciously gave me this impossible task. I know everything I need to know, thank you very much."

"Except when he should meet with his date, you mean," Riku countered laughingly, making Risa scowl darken even further. "Stop worrying about it, sis, I'm sure everything will be fine at the end and—"

Risa raised an eyebrow again. "And…? I wouldn't mind if you finished your sentence you know, 'Ku."

Riku had previously been looking at the restaurant's entrance but then she quickly turned back to her sister before grinning like a maniac. "You know the saying, 'Speak of the devil and he shall appear'?"

Risa fully understood what her sister was saying and unsuccessfully hid the yelp of surprise that escaped her. Then she glared at her sister. "I'd just like to make it known to every living creature on the planet that if I die here, it's all your fault. Why couldn't you have picked a more low-key place anyway?!"

"It's not like I knew they were going to be here!" Riku quickly defended herself.

"Oh my God, you said 'they'. Please, please, please don't tell me that Mr. Hiwatari is actually here. Please, have mercy on my poor, tormented soul, 'Ku."

Riku kept quiet and Risa groaned into her hands. "This is not going to end well, 'Ku, I just know it."

All Riku could do was smile.

--

"So I told him that he could shove his…" Dark was telling his stoic blue-haired friend something that he knew would get a smile out of him when he noticed a pair of brunettes seated a few tables over from where they were being led by the restaurant hostess.

And he was pretty sure that he recognized one of them. Dark grinned. Oh, this was going to be a hell lot more interesting a lunch than he had originally planned it to be.

Satoshi raised an eyebrow at his violet-haired friend who had stopped walking and was gawking at a pair of women who looked oddly similar to each other.

"Twins," Satoshi said, more to himself than Dark, when he realized his brain seemed to be synapsing a bit slower than usual. Dark still heard though.

"That's what I thought." Then Dark grinned. Satoshi knew the meaning of that grin. He had had to do a lot of explaining to do because of that grin. What was Dark up to now? Satoshi rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Sat, let's go introduce ourselves to those lovely ladies." He motioned to the pair, one of whom was laughing at what seemed to be something that didn't sit very well with the other.

The other man merely shook his head. "Leave them alone, Dark. They have a right to a peaceful lunch, you know."

But Dark didn't listen to him and made his way over to the twins. Satoshi had no other choice but to follow. Damage control was in order, he could feel it.

"Ms. Risa Harada?" Dark asked once he reached the small table near the windows, shocking both Risa and Satoshi. Risa because she had thought the gods would listen to her prayers for once and let her have a few more hours before explaining to Mr. Mousy that she had failed at her search for Mr. Hiwatari's date and Satoshi because he had thought that Dark wasn't acquainted with either of the two. But of course he was, Satoshi had known Dark not to be shocked at most anything anymore. This was an exception to the rule, it seemed.

Risa squeaked quietly in her seat, shooting her twin a glare when she heard her snort behind her hand. "Um…yes, can I help you?" She turned her gaze to the tall, violet-haired man in front of her and remembered seeing him in a newspaper article not too long ago. No wonder he was familiar…

Then she saw the blue-haired, blue-eyed man standing a little behind Mr. Mousy and she felt her stomach knot up. Good God. _That_ was Satoshi Hiwatari? He definitely did not look like _that_ in his pictures.

"Dark Mousy, it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person and, of course, your lovely sister as well." Dark then nudged his friend, who had gone characteristically quiet. But Satoshi was always a gentleman.

Satoshi inwardly sighed and promised to give Dark a piece of his mind later on. "Satoshi Hiwatari, it's nice meeting the both of you," he said in his politest, most detached tone. He had just wanted to go eat lunch and get back to work. Dark and his crazy plans…

Risa looked back at Dark worriedly. Did Mr. Hiwatari really have _no_ idea about this entire thing? Well, there goes her conscience. She inwardly grimaced at what she was doing behind his back.

Dark, obviously, had no such qualms. "Satoshi, I was planning you to meet Ms. Harada tomorrow but fate seems to have other plans." He smiled at the both of them and Riku had to pinch herself to not laugh. She wasn't getting any amusement from this whole thing, in fact, she felt a little worried for her sister but she just couldn't help herself.

Satoshi remained quiet, waiting for the blow. "Risa here is your personal matchmaker."

Complete silence.

"_What?!_" Satoshi spluttered, very possibly for the first time in his life.

"Yup, I hired her for you a few days ago. She's going to find you a date for the party next week," Dark continued, obviously pleased for having drawn out such a rare expression from his friend.

"What?!" this time it was Risa. "You never said anything about the deadline being next week!" she all but screeched, nearly jumping out of her seat and poking her boss in the chest. Then she remembered that these _were_ her bosses and coughed a little. "Um, sir," she added quietly at the end.

"Dark, you're taking this whole party deal out of proportion. You didn't need to hire anybody." Satoshi could feel his ire rise. Dark had gone too far this time and Satoshi wasn't about to let it go easily.

"Oh yes, I did and I hired the best damn matchmaker in the city. You know what they're saying, Sat. The rumors going around everywhere are outrageous and I've finally taken it into my own hands to end them all."

Before anyone could say anything else though, the waiter arrived at Risa and Riku's table with their orders.

Riku stood up and took care of it, sensing that the mini-war was raging between the two males currently towering over their table wasn't going to end anytime soon. "Oh, could you please hold our food for a little while more? We still have a few things to discuss here and I don't think we'll be having the appetite to eat until we're through with everything." She smiled sweetly at the man and he nodded in understanding, quickly maneuvering his way back to the kitchen.

Dark had almost forgotten that there was a fourth person at the table and was instantly ashamed at having interrupted their dinner. "I'm sorry for having barged on the two of you with this."

Riku waved her hand dismissively, much to the horror of her sister. "It's alright. My sister and I were just talking about the two of you anyway."

Time to 'fess up, Risa realized and sighed. "Mr. Mousy, um, Mr. Hiwatari, I'm so sorry but I still haven't found a date for you. I may be able to find a few possible dates by the weekend but I really can't make any promises. I'm afraid that a week may not be enough time to find you a date for such a high-profile party."

"It's quite alright," Satoshi was able to ground out in between of his teeth. He was seething and Dark would have the honor of feeling the brunt of it when they were back in his office. "I should think I am…"

"Willing to wait for however long it takes as long as it's before Friday next week," Dark cut him off, sending his genius friend a smirk.

All Satoshi could do was suppress the scowl threatening to show on his face. There was _no_ way he was going to let _this_ go without a fight.

--

_Okay, I've got to admit, the title kind of freaked me out, too. But wouldn't that be a great idea? Dark and Satoshi being mob leaders...:)) I can just imagine it. Anyway, what did you think? I wrote this all down in one sitting (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, here I come!) and I'm a bit worried about your reactions since, hello, it's been a really long time. Which reminds me, I still have a lot to fix up in my older fics..._

_Now, my dear friends, flamers and aliens (it does not get old for me, I'm sorry to say :D), click on that button somewhere down there that will make a review page pop up and make my day! Nuff said. :)_


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